Sorting machine

ABSTRACT

A sorting machine having a plurality of parallel rollers, all being supported by chain means, which form them into an endless belt and each supporting a plurality of spaced, double-conical sectional discs; guide rails for the discs for adjusting the positions of the discs along their rollers; slotted guide plate means connected with the rails for readjusting the positions of the rails, thereby to readjust the positions of the sectional discs. A plurality of sorting machines may be arranged in a row, each with means for providing a transition to the succeeding machine.

United States Patent Wittmann [4 1' Oct. 17, 1972 [54] SORTING MACHINE FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 72] Inventor: Paul Wittmann, Hertlingsweg B 120 233?; i323. A, Neuburg/Danube, Germany y [22] Filed: Dec. 21, 1970 Primary Examiner-Allen N. Knowles p 1 pp No: 100,190 Attorney Ostrolenk, aber, Gerb & Soffen Foreign Application Priority Data Dec. 29, 1969 March 17,

US. Cl Int. Cl.

Germany ..P 19 65 243.8 1970 Germany ..P 2O 12 654.9

............................ ..209/102, 209/106 ...........Cl0g 37/00 Field of Search .209/98, 106, 102, 83

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2/1968 Peterson.... ......209/106 [57] ABSTRACT A sorting machine having a plurality of parallel rollers,

all being supported by chain means, which form them into an endless belt and each supporting a plurality of spaced, double-conical sectional discs; guide rails for the discs for adjusting the positions of the discs along their rollers; slotted guide plate means connected with the rails for readjusting the positions of the rails, thereby to readjust the positions of the sectional discs. A plurality of sorting machines may be arranged in a row, each'with means for providing a transition to the succeeding machine.

' 13 Claims, 8 Drawing Figures j e cutest PATENTEDHBHYIHIZ j 3,698,552

SHEET 3 BF 3 ATTORNEXS SORTING MACHINE The invention relates to a sorting machine for substantially rounded or spherical articles, and more particularly agricultural products, such as potatoes. The machine has a number of rotary sectional rollers, which extend parallel to one another and are made up of individual double-conical sectional discs.

A potato sorting machine of this kind is known from US. Pat. No. 2,588,309, which has two arrangements of sectional rollers for sorting three sizes of potatoes. The rollers have sectional discs of various 'sizes and are disposed at varying distances from one another. The sizes to be sorted are fixed because the distances between both the rollers and the sectional discs cannot be changed.

In a similar prior art potato sorting machine as set forth in German Utility Model No. 1,902,329, the sorting size is altered by altering the distance between neighboring sectional rollers. All the rollers must be removed and then be reinserted at different places in the machine frame. Since fixed bearings are provided to receive the rollers on the frame, this change can be made only in discrete steps.

A sorting machine is also known in which the items to be sorted drop through apertures in an endless, rotary, jointed-band conveyor. Because the jointed band comprises a fixed mesh, it is impossible to alter the sorting size.

East German Patent No. 60,212 discloses a potato sorting device having substantially immovable doubleconical sectional discs. The discs are resiliently mounted to permit displacement in the longitudinal direction along the disc carrying shafts, to avoid damage to the items being sorted or to the sectional discs. However, the sorting size cannot be adjusted.

It is an object of the invention to provide a sorting machine of the kind specified in which the sorting size can be altered rapidly, readily and continuously. In the invention, the distances between the sectional discs carried by the individual support rollers can be adjusted. Preferably, the sectional discs are adjusted by rails, which slide along rods that are disposed parallel with the axes of the sectional rollers. By means of a pin in slot connecting means, the rails are shifted by a guide plate, which can be moved relatively to the rods. In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the guide plate is moved transversely of the rods and the slots with respect to the rails. The slot inclines vary and are selected so that the changes in the distances between the rails caused by the movement of the guide plate are identical and the rails can remain equidistantly spaced. Advantageously, two parallel rail supporting rods are provided, and the guide plate has two parallel groups of slots. The guide plate can be moved by a rotary spindle engaging in a screw threaded bush attached to the guide plate.

In an advantageous further development of the invention, the sectional discs of each roller are disposed for co-rotation on a common shaft. Each shaft is carried in endless rotating chains having a substantially horizontal, item sorting top run. Each shaft carriesa gear, which meshes with a rack disposed parallel with such top run. The sectional rollers are, therefore, both moved in the conveying direction transversely of their axes, and are rotated around their axes. The items being sorted are conveyed onward and are thoroughly sorted even if a large quantity of them are supplied to the sorting machine.

To enable a number of sorting machines according to the invention with rotating chains to be disposed one after the other and thereby to perform multiple sorting in one operation, an intermediate rail disposed parallel with the-sectional rollers is provided at one end of the top run of the chain and between neighboring sorting machines. 1

Further details of the invention will be gathered from the following description of an embodiment thereof with reference to the drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a sorting machine ac cording to the invention;

FIG. 2 diagrammatically illustrates three sorting machines of the type shown in FIG. 1, disposed one after the other for multiple sorting in one operation;

FIG. 3 is a plan view of a portion of the sorting surface of two sorting machines disposed one after the other as shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4a is an enlarged detail view of the left-hand portion of FIG. 3;

FIG. 4b is an enlarged detail view of the right-hand portion of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a side view of the sorting machine seen at an angle from below, as indicated by arrow V in FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is a section taken along the line VI-Vl in FIG. 5; and

FIG. 7 is a section taken along the line VII-VII in FIG. 4b.

Referring to the drawings, FIG. 2 shows a plurality of sorting machines 10, l0, 10'' according to the invention. They are substantially identical, with the exception noted below. FIG. 1, along with FIG. 2, illustrates machine 10, which comprises a frame 11 across which extend and in which are pivotably mounted four parallel rollers 12-15. Endless sorting belt means 16 passes around the four rollers. At least one roller, e.g. top roller 13, is driven by motor 17 mounted on frame 11. The upper surface 40 of sorting belt 16 is the working surface. Items to be sorted are deposited on surface 40. This surface has openings 41 through it, defined by means described below. Those items, whose dimensions are smaller than openings 41 (FIG. 4a), drop through the belt and are caught by a hopper having a chute 18 extending out of the machine. The larger items, which do not drop through belt 16, are delivered at either of roller 12 or roller 13, depending upon the direction of movement of the belt. Sorting machine 10, therefore, sorts to two sizes, items small enough to fall through belt 16 and larger items.

The three sorting machines 10, 10, 10" illustrated in FIG. 2 are disposed one after the other. When the sorting openings through the sorting belts of these machines are differently adjusted as required, sorting can be performed to four different sizes. To ensure that the items being sorted do not become stuck at the place of transition between neighboring machines, in the gaps'between the adjacent rollers 13, l2; 13'; 12'', or become squashed there, each machine has an intermediate transition rail 19 of substantially triangular cross-section with an upper horizontal surface, or an idle roller of relatively small diameter.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged plan view of the connection area between the machines 10, 10' shown in FIG. 2. As

can be seen from FIG. 3, the sorting belt 16 comprises a number of sectional rollers 20, which are disposed parallel with one another, are aligned transversely of the direction of conveyance of the belt and extend across the belt. The rollers 20 each comprise a series of sectional discs 21 disposed one beside the other.

Some sectional discs 21 are shown in FIGS. 4a and 4b and in section in FIG. 5. They are made of a resilient material, for instance rubber, and have an outside diameter of about 90 mm. and a thickness of about 50 mm. Their outer surfaces are of cone shaped shell form and are chamfered, preferably at an angle of 45 to the axial direction, a central end face being left of about 12 mm. in width. The resulting conical surfaces 22 form the actual working surfaces of the sectional discs 21. Concave roundings can be substituted for the straight chamferings illustrated. As FIGS. 4a and 4b show, the adjacent conical surfaces 22 of each two pairs of adjacent sectional discs 21 form squares on two adjacent sectional rollers 20. The comers of the squares are absent, but, in any case, are ineffective for sortin potatoes or other rounded articles.

FIGS. 3, 4a and 4b show all the sectional discs 21 of a roller 20 disposed on a shaft 23. The sectional discs 21 are formed with a square central recess, and the shaft 23 is of square cross-section. As a result, the sectional discs 21 can be displaced in relation to one another longitudinally of the shaft 23, but are connected thereto for co-rotation.

The shafts 23 are pivotably suspended at both ends in endless chains 24a, 24b, which pass around rollers 12-15. Adjacent chain 24b on each shaft 23, is attached a. gear 25. Gear 25 meshes with a rack 26, which is attached to the frame 1 l and is disposed parallel with top sorting surface 40 of belt 16. The chains 24a, 24b convey sectional rollers 21 and the items being sorted across the top sorting surface feed the remaining items to the next sorting machine. The gears 25 and rack 26 ensure that in the top run of the sorting belt 16 the sectional rollers 20 rotate around their own axes. This enables the items to be sorted even when the items are deposited in a tall pile.

To prevent the items being sorted from falling between chains 24a, 24b and the gear and rack mechanism 25, 26, the edges of the sorting surfaces are covered by corresponding lateral casing portions 24a, 27b which are tall enough to prevent the items from dropping down sideways (FIGS. 1 and 3).

The mechanism for axially adjusting the sectional discs 21 will be explained with relation to FIGS. 1, and 6. Rails 30, each having a generally L-shaped cross-section, are disposed parallel with a lateral run of the sorting belt 16, which extends at an incline downward and inward. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 5, each sectional roller 20 comprises sectional discs 21. The same number of L-rails 30 are mounted parallel with one another. Rails 30 are so aligned that their inner surfaces extend parallel with the chamferings 22 of the sectional discs 21. Since each sectional disc 21 runs in its rail 30, the discs 21 are aligned by the rails on each rotation of the sorting belt 16 and can be adjusted in their separation by the lateral displacement of the rails 30.

The rear side of each rail 30 has two sliding blocks 31, which slide on two horizontal rods, which are disposed parallel with the lateral run of sorting belt 16. In FIG. 1, rods 32 are attached to lateral frame strips 33. On the side remote from rail 30, the sliding blocks 31 each have guide pins 34 extending through slots 35 in a guide plate 36. Attached to the bottom end of plate 36 is a screw threaded bush 40, which receives a screw threaded spindle 42 that is mounted at a place 41 on the frame 11. Spindle 42 is rotated by crank 43 through shaft 44 and bevel gears 45. Rotation of spindle 42 moves guide plate 36 upward or downward parallel with the lateral run of the sorting belt 16.

Slots 35 in guide plate 36 are inclined at various angles to the directions of extension of the rails 30. The central slots extend parallel to rails 30. The incline of the slots 35 increases with increasing distance from the center line. The result is a pattern of slots in which the top ends of each row of slots are at a distance S min from one another and the bottom ends at a distance S max from one another. When crank 43 is actuated to move guide plate 36 far enough downward for the guide pins 34 to move into the top ends of slots 35, rails 30 are each at mutual distances apart of S min. In this arrangement of the rails 30, the sectional discs 21 are brought into their closest position (FIG. 4a) corresponding to the sorting opening D min. When guide plate 36 is displaced far enough upward for the guide pins 34 to abut the bottom ends of slots 35, rails 30 are moved apart and the sectional discs 21 are brought into a mutual arrangement as shown in FIG. 4b. The maximum size sorting openings D max corresponds to the bottom distance apart S max of the slots.

A pivotably mounted plate formed with arcuate slots can be substituted for a transversable guide plate formed with linear slots.

As shown by FIG. 7, the inner recess by which each sectional disc 21 is held on its shaft 23 has an inflexible lining 50 comprising a square metal section. At least one of the four surfaces of the opening through lining 50 is formed with two boxes 51 into each of which a small metal friction disc 52is inserted. The resilient material of sectional disc 21 forces disc 52 against shaft 23. By selection of the thickness of disc 52, the frictional engagement between sectional discs 21 and shafts 23 can be controlled. This is important, since, on the one hand, discs 21 must be displaceable by the rails 30 along the shafts 23 and, on the other hand, discs 21 must be held so firmly on the shafts that the discs are not displaced by the items being sorted.

Although this invention has been described with respect to its preferred embodiments, it should be understood that many variations and modifications will now be obvious to those skilled in the art and, therefore, it is preferred that the invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein but only by the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A sorting machine for rounded articles, comprising a sorting surface having a plurality of neighboring, parallel rollers, each of which is comprised of a plurality of double-conical sectional discs; and means for selectively adjusting the distances between the said sectional discs of each said roller while said discs remain on and part of said roller; said adjustment means also being adapted to fixedly position said sectional discs after a selective adjustment; said adjustment means being for permitting various size objects to be sorted and to pass through said sorting surface.

2. The sorting machine of claim 1, wherein said adjustment means comprises a plurality of rails for said sectional discs; said rails being displaceable sideways in directions parallel with the axes of said disc holding rollers.

3. The sorting machine of claim 2, wherein said rails are mounted upon and slide along rods; said rods being carried upon said machine and being disposed parallel with the axes of said rollers;

a guide plate secured to said machine for controlling the adjustment of said rails; connection means between said rails and said guide plate; and

means for relatively moving said guide plate with respect to said connection means, thereby to adjust the positions of said rails along said rods.

4. The sorting machine of claim 3, wherein said guide plate is mounted to be movable transversely of said rail support rods; threaded adjustment means connected with said guide plate for moving same.

5. The sorting machine of claim 3, wherein said guide plate is relatively movable transversely of said rods;

said guide plate including a plurality of slots, with a set of said slots being provided for each of said rails; said connection means of each said rail engaging in its respective said set of guide plate slots; each of said guide plate slots being inclined with respect to the direction of extension of its respective said rail, with the degree of inclination of each said set of slots for each said rail being pre-selected so that as said guide plate is adjusted relative to said rods, all of said sectional discs are equally spaced.

6. The sorting machine of claim 5, wherein there are two of said rods; there are two said connection means, each joining each of said rails to one of said rods; said guide plate including two groups of said slots, with a slot from each said group cooperating with one of said two connection means for each of said rails.

7. The sorting machine of claim 1, wherein each said roller comprises a common shaft upon which said section discs thereof are mounted; said roller and said sectional discs being so comprised that said discs rotate with said shaft;

said rollers being secured in endless chain means, thereby forming said rollers into an endless sorting belt; said sorting belt having a horizontal top run which serves as its said sorting surface; each said roller having a gear thereto secured for engaging with a rack; a rack disposed parallel to said belt horizontal top run for engaging with each said roller gear, thereby to cause rotation of all of said gear, its associated said roller and said sectional discs as said belt passes over its said horizontal top run. 8. The sorting machine of claim 7 further comprising a sorted item support rail disposed at the downstream end of said horizontal top run and oriented parallel to said sectional disc support rollers for receiving any items which have not passed through said sorting surface.

9. A plurality of sorting machines, each comprising the sorting machine of claim 7; said sorting machines being arrayed downstream of one another in a line; means interposed between neighboring sorting machines for receiving items which have not been sorted and for transmitting these items to the next sorting machine in line.

10. The sorting machine of claim 9, wherein said sectional rollers of each said sorting machine downstream of a preceding sorting machine are set wider apart to present wider openings for items to be sorted, thereby to permit sorting of items into various size groupings.

11. The sorting machine of claim 1 wherein said sectional discs are formed of a resilient material.

12. The sorting machine of claim 11, wherein each said sectional disc has an opening therethrough, which receives said roller shaft therefor and each said sectional disc includes a lining in engagement with said shaft, which is comprised of relatively non-resilient material.

13. The sorting machine of claim 12, wherein said sectional disc lining has a friction element inserted therein which is in engagement with said shaft and holds said sectional disc in position on said shaft while items are being sorted, yet permits said sectional discs to be shifted along said shaft for adjusting for sorting of different size objects. 

1. A sorting machine for rounded articles, comprising a sorting surface having a plurality of neighboring, parallel rollers, each of which is comprised of a plurality of double-conical sectional discs; and means for selectively adjusting the distances between the said sectional discs of each said roller while said discs remain on and part of said roller; said adjustment means also being adapted to fixedly position said sectional discs after a selective adjustment; said adjustment means being for permitting various size objects to be sorted and to pass through said sorting surface.
 2. The sorting machine of claim 1, wherein said adjustment means comprises a plurality of rails for said sectional discs; said rails being displaceable sideways in directions parallel with the axes of said disc holding rollers.
 3. The sorting machine of claim 2, wherein said rails are mounted upon and slide along rods; said rods being carried upon said machine and being disposed parallel with the axes of said rollers; a guide plate secured to said machine for controlling the adjustment of said rails; connection means between said rails and said guide plate; and means for relatively moving said guide plate with respect to said connection means, thereby to adjust the positions of said rails along said rods.
 4. The sorting machine of claim 3, wherein said guide plate is mounted to be movable transversely of said rail support rods; threaded adjustment means connected with said guide plate for moving same.
 5. The sorting machine of claim 3, wherein said guide plate is relatively movable transversely of said rods; said guide plate including a plurality of slots, with a set of said slots being provided for each of said rails; said connection means of each said rail engaging in its respective said set of guide plate slots; each of said guide plate slots being inclined with respect to the direction of extension of its respective said rail, with the degree of inclination of each said set of slots for each said rail being pre-selected so that as said guide plate is adjusted relative to said rods, all of said sectional discs are equally spaced.
 6. The sorting machine of claim 5, wherein there are two of said rods; there are two said connection means, each joining each of said rails to one of said rods; said guide plate including two groups of said slots, with a slot from each said group cooperating with one of said two connection means for each of said rails.
 7. The sorting machine of claim 1, wherein each said roller comprises a common shaft upon which said section discs thereof are mounted; said roller and said sectional discs being so comprised that said discs rotate with said shaft; said rollers being secured in endless chain means, thereby forming said rollers into an endless sorting belt; said sorting belt having a horizontal top run which serves as its said sorting surface; each said roller having a gear thereto secured for engaging with a rack; a rack disposed parallel to said belt horizontal top run for engaging with each said roller gear, thereby to cause rotation of all of said gear, its associated said roller and said sectional discs as said belt passes over its said horizontal top run.
 8. The sorting machine of claim 7 further comprising a sorted item support rail disposed at the downstream end of said horizontal top run and oriented parallel to said sectional disc support rollers for receiving any items which have not passed through said sorting surface.
 9. A plurality of sorting machines, each comprising the sorting machine of claim 7; said sorting machines being arrayed downstream of one another in a line; means interposed between neighboring sorting machines for receiving items which have not been sorted and for transmitting these items to the next sorting machine in line.
 10. The sorting machine of claim 9, wherein said sectional rollers of each said sorting machine downstream of a preceding sorting machine are set wider apart to present wider openings for items to be sorted, thereby to permit sorting of items into various size groupings.
 11. The sorting machine of claim 1 wherein said sectional discs are formed of a resilient material.
 12. The sorting machine of claim 11, wherein each said sectional disc has an opening therethrough, which receives said roller shaft therefor and each said sectional disc includes a lining in engagement with said shaft, which is comprised of relatively non-resilient material.
 13. The sorting machine of claim 12, wherein said sectional disc lining has a friction element inserted therein which is in engagement with said shaft and holds said sectional disc in position on said shaft while items are being sorted, yet permits said sectional discs to be shifted along said shaft for adjusting for sorting of different size objects. 